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Quote by Kathleen Raine

“Not this or that But all is amiss, That I have done, And I have seen Sin and sorrow Befoul the world - Release me, death, Forgive, remove From place and time The trace of all That I have been.”

Book:The Collected Poems of Kathleen Raine

Work

The Collected Poems of Kathleen Raine

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Author

Kathleen Raine

Kathleen Raine was an English poet known for her surrealistic and mystical style. Her works often explore profound themes of human existence, such as death, love, and religion. Born on June 14, 1908, she passed away on July 6, 2003. more

“Under ground, under ground! Down in the safe soft womb of earth, where there is no getting of jobs or losing of jobs, no relatives or friends to plague you, no hope, fear, ambition, honour, duty - no duns of any kind. That was where he wished to be. Yet it was not death, actual physical death, that he wished for. It was a queer feeling that he had. It had been with him ever since that morning when he woke up in the police cell. The evil, mutinous mood that comes after drunkenness seemed to have set into a habit. That drunken night had marked a period in his life. It had dragged him downward with strange suddenness. Before, he had fought against the money-code, and yet he had clung to his wretched remnant of decency. But now it was precisely from decency that he wanted to escape. He wanted to go down, deep down, into some world where decency no longer mattered; to cut the strings of his self-respect, to submerge himself - to sink, as Rosemary had said. It was all bound up in his mind with the thought of being underground. He liked to think about the lost people, the underground people, tramps, beggars, criminals, prostitutes. It is a good world that they inhabit, down there in their frowzy kips and spikes. He liked to think that beneath the world of money there is that great sluttish underworld where failure and success have no meaning; a sort of kingdom of ghosts where all are equal. That was where he wished to be, down in the ghost-kingdom, below ambition.”

Despair Sinking Self Destruction Low Sink Underground

Book:Keep the Aspidistra Flying

Source: Keep the Aspidistra Flying

“But please don't ask me to eat anything, especially boiled pork and greens. Boiled pork and greens are so unromantic when one is in affliction.”

Humor Suffering Despair

Author:Anne Shirley/Lucy Maud Montgomery

“A great wasteland of sorrow was opening up in him, unfolding dozens of tiny shacks, terrible squatters setting up residence, banging their miniature liquor bottles against his chest, a hundred feet trampling his organs.”

Grief Sadness Sorrow Despair

Book:Land of Big Numbers

Source: Land of Big Numbers

“From The Darkest Depths by Stewart Stafford Salvation swallowed in a bleak abyss, Of impossibly lost and betrayed souls, Swarming screams of frantic contrition, Clawing collisions in a drowning grip. Drops of reason cascade down the vortex, Falling infinitely through the fallen infamy, Snaking doubt constructing every delusion, Of false idols, prophets, and graven images. Scaling its putrescent and lacerating walls, Is a repentant struggle beyond endurance, Then distant dawn appears, growing nearer, Darkness fades and a basking reign forms. © Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved”